The Trump Administration Thinks Women Are Only Good for Having Babies

The Latest Policy Proposals Hold Women Back

Statement by National NOW President Christian F. Nunes

WASHINGTON-The Trump administration continues to want control over women, their bodies and their actions. The proposals coming out of the White Houseto 'persuade Americans to get married and have more children" are paternalist to the core.

They include a $5,000 cash 'baby bonus' for every mother after delivery and government funded programs to 'educate women' on their menstrual cycles and their 'natural fertility' instead of using birth control.

And the White House is considering an executive order that would bestow a 'National Medal of Motherhood' to mothers with six or more children.

It all adds up to the extremists' paternalist devotion to their idea of the 'perfect family,' and how to twist our laws and policies to advance that very narrow vision-one where women need to be controlled, in a fatherly way, for their own good.

What about women who don't want to have six children-or any children?

Who is the federal government to define what makes a family-using tax dollars to create more families only they approve of? If they cared so much about families, then they would do something about the maternal mortality crisis that makes the U.S. rate the worst ranked among wealthy nations.

And they would restore funding for programs that help women and children, strengthen their access to healthcare and make it easier, not harder, for women to vote. These harmful actions disproportionality impact women, especially women of color.

The Trump Administration and their supporters profess to believe in freedom and democracy, but their definition of those values grows narrower every day. Now they want to take away freedom and limit democracy for women who don't conform to their agenda.

Donald Trump wants women to believe that he knows what's best for them, but women know better. These policies have nothing to do with what's best for women, or families-they are all about power and control over women's lives.

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